Rail-bender



E. F. BENNETT.

RAIL moan.

APPLICATION FILED SEPL5, IQIB. I 1,337,587. Patenmd'Apr. 20, 1920.

3 SHEETS-SHEET l Q & Q Q

E. F. BENNETT.

RAIL BENDER. APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 5. 191a.

Patented Apr. 20, 1920.

a SHEETS-SHEET 2.

E. F. BEHNEU.

BAIL BEHDEI'L APPLICATION FILED SEPT. a, me.

Patemed Apr. 20, 192%.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

wvewtoz UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ELLWOOD F. BENNETT, OF SAYRE, PENNSYLVANIA.

BAIL-BENDER.

Application filed. September 5, 1918.

To all whom it may concern: 7

Be it known that I, ELLwooD F. BENNETT, a citizen of the United States,residing at Sayre, Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Rail- Benders, of which the following is aspeciiication.

The invention relates to a bender designed-especially for straighteningrailway rails, both in respect to lateral andvertical bends. Among theobjects of the invention are to quickly and easily adapt the machine forbending either laterally or vertically (these words being used withreference to the normal position of the rail when in use); to providemeans for easily running the rails through the machine and forsupporting the rails in the various positions they assume while beingbent, and to provide readily removable and replaceable devices forpunching rails.

The accompanying drawings shows one exemplifying embodiment of theinvention. It is to be understood that the invention may be embodied inother forms, and I do not limit myself to details except as claimed.

Figure 1 is atop plan of a bending ap p'aratus embodying the invention,the rail being shown in position for vertical bend- Fig. 2 is a topplan, enlarged, of the bending me'hanism proper.

Fig. 8 is a side elevation of the same with a few parts in sectionshowing the machine arranged for lateral bending.

Fig. 4 is a similar view of sufiicient parts of the machine to show theapplication of the punching mechanism. 7

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view showing the arrangement of the machine forvertical bending.

Fig. 6 is a vertical se tion through one of the arms of the yoke lookingtoward the face of the aw.

Fig. 7 is a horizontal section through one of thejaws showing the convexrail engaging face of the jaw.

Fig. 8 is a vertical section in a transverse plane with respect to Fig.1 through the bearing mounting for one of the rail supporting rollers ofthe bending machine proper, and

Fig. 9 is a top plan view of the same.

The bending ma hine proper comprises a body 1 from which extend the twoyoke arms 2 terminating in jaws 3. At the other Specification of LettersPatent.

Patented Apr. 20, 1920.

Serial No. 252,727.

side of the body is an extension 1 carrying hydraulic press mechanism 5of which the cylinder 6 is arranged horizontally and directed toward thecenter of the yoke. The

plunger 7 extends from the cylinder and is provided with means forreceiving various rail engaging devices as will appear later. Inaddition to the hydraulic press 5 a suit ably operated rack wheel 6 maybe used, in connection with the rack teeth 7 to advance and retract theplunger.

. to revolve and also to slide laterally on their shafts. The yoke arms2 are provided adjacent to the jaws 3 withrollers 14. whose tops extendmore or less above the level of the upper faces of the arms 2. Theserollers are preferably made adjustable vertically as appears hereafter.

The rollers 12 are made with central annular flanges 15 to engage theweb of the railbetween the head and base when the rail It lies upon itsside for verti al bending as shown in Figs. 1 and 5. When the rail is inthis position the rollers 13 are placed idly out of the way at one endof their respective shafts. The rollers 13 are provided with a centralportion 16 of reduced dimension and end flanges 17 so that when the railis in upright position for lateral bending. as shown in Fig. 3, thebottom of the rail base rests on the reduced central portion 16 of therollers between the flanges 1'7 and in that case the rollers 12 areplaced idlv at one end of their resoe"tive shafts. Fig. 1 shows a railof which the left hand portion has been straightened and the right handpo tion is curved and is to be straightened by progressive movementthrough the machine toward the left. and the left and right handportions of the rail res ec ively il ustrate sufficiently the way in whih the rollers 12 or 13 move latera l of their shafts to accommodatethemselves to the transve se movement of the rail as t is straightened.as well as to permit the rail to be moved longitudinally with. littleeffort.

' The vertical inner sides of the jaws 3 are provided with convex orpart-cylindrical rests directly against the convex faces 18 of the jaws.

For lateral bending asshownin Fig. 3, 'the "plunger 7 is provided withdetachable head 24 which has a central projection 25 adapted to fit theweb of the railbetween the head and the base. This detachable head 24 issecured to the plunger in the same mannor as the head of Fig. 5.' Theother side of the railis engaged by blocks 26 detachably secured againstthe inner faces of the jaws 3. These blocks have projections 27corresponding to the projections of heads 24, and adapted to fit theopposite side of the rail. The blocks also have pins 28 which areengaged by swinging hooks 29' pivoted to jaws 3. By manipulation of thehooks in an obvious way the blocks 26 may be easily secured in positionor released;

Figs. 2 and 4 show the machine arranged for punching. A punch-abutmentframe 30 is provided comprising a beam 31 and two laterally extendingarms 32. The ends of 7 the beam are provided with concave surfaces '33engaging the convex faces 18 of the jaws.

The ends of the beam also fit under the j aw flanges 19. The ends ofarms32 are provided with hooks 34. Near the hooks 34 the arms are drilled toreceive thestems 35 of hooks 36. The hooks 34 and 36 engage flanges 37on the body casting 1 and are tightened in this position by wedges 38driven through slots in the upper parts of the stems 35. In this way thebending abutment is rigidly secured in the bending frame at four pointsof support. Along a part of the inner face of beam 31 is an undercutchannel 39 defined by the side flanges 40 and j in this channel issecured the flared base 41 punch hole.

" of a block 42 which engages the rail web and serves as a punh'abutment. At one side of the block, when it is in normal position theside flanges 40 of the channel 39 are cut away vertically to permit thebase 41 of the block'to be inserted in the channel and secured'bydriving laterally into position.v As best seen in Fig. 2' the block hasconsiderable length to reinforce the rail for afconsiderable distance onea h side of the The block 42 and the beam are provided with registeringholes 43 to accommodate the punch and the punchings The head 29 from therail. The punch 44 is detachably secured in the socket atv the end ofplunger 7. To further steady and secure the rail, set screws 45 may beprovided in arms 32 and adjusted to engage the top of the rail head. 7

Rails of different weights of course vary in their dimensions. and toaccommodate rails of such varying dimensions it is desirable toadjustthe rollers 14 of the bending mechanism proper vertically. Forthis purpose the rollers are mounted on shafts 46 and these shafts arecarried by blocks 47 located in boxes 48 extending from the sides ofyoke arms 2. These boxes are open at the top and are provided at theirinner sides with slots 49 to accommodate the shaft 46. Inthe boxes belowthe box '47 are removably placed one or more plates or' shims 50 each ofwhich has a substantiallyrem tangular shape to fit the inside of the boxand a projection 51 at one side. These projections extend through theslots 49. The shafts '46 are secured in blocks 47 by set screws 52. Toadjust therollers'14 vertically the rollers with theirshafts and blocksare raised out of the boxes and one or more of the shims 50 is insertedor removed through the top of the box according to the dimensions of therail to be supported. The shims are conveniently handled by insertingany convenient tool between their projecting members 51 which areaccessible through the slots 49. The dimensions of rails usually vary inregular intervals, and the shims therefore are conveniently made of athickness equal to one-half of the regular interval of rail dimensionsso that the removal or.

insertion of one shim will have the effect of properly centeringa railof the next larger or smaller size as the case may be than the rail forwhich the machine was previously adjusted, or by inserting or removingtwo or more shims the rollers'may be easily positioned for rails of anyothersize.

When the machine is properly set up for either lateral or verticalbending and the rollers 14 properly adjusted and the rail is put inposition on the rollers 12 or 13 as the case may be it may easily andquickly .be runthrough the machine with a minimum of labor. The man incharge sightsalong the rail and directs the press operator to bend therail a certain amount at a certain point and then the rail is quicklymoved.

along a suitable distance and bent again and so on. After one or anumber of rails have been straightened laterally the ma-.

chine may then be quickly adjusted for vertical bending and the rail is'qui kly run through and straightened vertically in a similar manner. Itwill now be understood that the machine'is of spe ial value inreclaiming old bent rails'which by the use of'this machine may be veryeconomically straightened for reuse with a minimum of labor and expense.The punching attachment described also provides for punching new boltholes when necessary without having to provide an independent machinefor that purpose. 7

It should be noted that the convex jaw faces 18 not only cooperate withthe base of the rail in vertical bending to permit the necessarymovement of the rail base in relation to the jaws in bending in theproper way, but they cooperate with the blocks 26 in lateral bending sothat the backs of the blocks may rock upon the faces 18 as the railbends laterally. For this purpose the swing hook 29 or other deviceswhich secure the blocks are sufliciently loose to permit the necessarymovement.

I claim:

1. In a rail bending mechanism, the combination with a central frame andits lateral extensions, of a bending yoke secured to the frame andhaving two projecting, upwardly extending jaws having each an inwardlyprojecting flange, a plunger supported above the yoke and acting betweenthe aws, vertically adjustable rail supporting rollers on the yokeadjacent the jaws, other rollers journaled on the frame and itsextensions having lateral movement transversely to the rail, andelongated shafts for supporting these latter rollers.

2. In rail bending mechanism, the combination of a yoke having upwardlyextending jaws and a bending plunger, of two slotted boxes located onthe outer face of the yoke adjacent to each of the jaws, blocks locatedin the boxes, shafts passing through the slots and engaging the blocks,rollers mounted on the shafts and adjustment pieces adapted to beremovably placed in the boxes for the purpose described.

ELLWOOD F. BENNETT.

